My favorite part of the Growth Roots journal is the table of contents. I love being able to organize my journal with the numbered stickers and a table of contents.
Prior to the Growth Roots journal, I used a blank journal but had no way of organizing it. The table of contents definitely sold me on this journal, and once I started using it I loved everything else about it too.
If you are new to the journal, it might be overwhelming deciding which topics to use. The way I did it was I just started journaling and as time went on I figured out what I journaled about the most, then categorize them. After I used the journal for a few years, I just keep the same topics - maybe taking out one or adding a new one as needed.
Here are my topics (and how I use them)
Bible
Any notes from my Bible - when I study a particular verse, or topic like anxiety
God Notes
Anything I feel God is leading me or convicting me on
Prayer
Verses on prayer, or actual prayers. I will write daily prayers, or make lists for specific people/groups or situations
Truth
Here I make lists of truth on different topics and I categorize them as “truth about God” and “truth about who God says I am” - I will write truth on suffering, or truth on grace, etc.
Sermon/book notes
Notes from sermons or books. I particularly love writing book notes because I forget things easily, but this allows me to write the important notes in my journal.
Goals
I make goals each month and categorize them as “monthly goals, weekly goals, daily goals”.
Word This Year
I like to choose a word to focus on and grow me through the year - and I will write Bible verses, quotes or notes from books on the topic.
Marriage
Here I put anything related to marriage: verses, sermons, Bible readings, prayers for my marriage, etc. My husband and I did a yearly recommitment on our anniversary where we choose a verse, and write some goals for our marriage, and that went under this section too.
Motherhood
Same as marriage, anything related to motherhood.
Sweet Moments
Here I record sweet things my kids say. It might be funny things like when my daughter told me she didn’t want to sleep in her bed anymore because she farts in it too much - or sweet things like when she said “everything in life is about God”.
Business/Ministry
Same as marriage and motherhood, anything related to business or ministry.
The Battle is Yours
This is a particular situation that I am dealing with - I titled it after a song, but any prayers, quotes, Bible verses that encourage me in this situation goes under this category.
Journaling
Just random journaling - sometimes I will use it more as a diary, or I will do something I call “Process the Day” where I write a praise for God, confession, let. It go (what I need to let go of), and truth (something I need to remember about God or his word).
1 Peter
I did a deep, inductive study on 1 Peter. Normally I would categorize it as Bible, but it was about 15 pages of notes, so I gave it it’s own category. If I was doing a particular Bible study or devotional, I would give it it’s own category as well.
Those are my topics! I hope that was helpful. If it’s your first year, don’t stress about choosing the topics - just start journaling and you will notice a pattern!